Keeping up with the jones

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Do you assume that people who are shopping and buying stuff cannot afford it? Or assume that someone with 6 children is in debt? Do you see someone driving a fancy car and assume it's leased?

How does it affect you to see people spending their money on life luxuries instead of saving it? Are you in debt? Did you keep up with the Jones and thus assume that everyone else does too? Or have you never been in debt, but just frugal and would never spend money on that?

I'm curious, because I often read on these message boards people who say they would never buy a new car, bigger home, etc. Proudly brandishing their frugality, which is good, and yet it raises the question, is it bad to spend money?

It is bad to buy yourself a nice home, nice car, pay for college, go on vacation?

Shouldn't someone's lifestyle be based on whether they can afford it? And not based on what others think?

[fairy74]

Re: Keeping up with the jones

I think people should live their life however they want (and can afford)...I must admit unless I know someone is very financially solvent, if they live in a big fancy house and drive a big fancy car I just assume they are financed up the wazoo...(unfortunately, I know a lot of people like this and I have no respect for it)...You make a good point though, I probably shouldn't jump to any conclusions at all. Spending money isn't wrong, as long as you really have the money to spend. (Just don't ever, ever ask me for a loan if you drive a Lexus!)

[debt_free]

Re: Keeping up with the jones

My wife's Ukranian father has a great saying: "Money is bad. Get rid of it!"

I know, funny but not too smart. Unfortunately, there are still people that like to invest
in "liabilities" rather than assets. Someone said that the poor spend their money on "stuff", everything in their house is filled with stuff that they bought when pay day came around, curios, knick knacks, stuff from the dollar store, stuff from the rummage sale. The middle class spend their money on liabilities such as cars, boats, vacation homes. These are things that cost money to buy and to keep. This is the class of people that are in debt up to their eyeballs (keeping up with the Jones'). The rich invest their money into assets- they buy more businesses, and other investments that continue to return money to them.
Something to think about!

Cheers,
Dennis Mason

[cschin4]

Re: Keeping up with the jones

I really don't care what the Jones do. I buy what I like and can afford. My home is paid off, my kid's college if funded and I have adequate retirement money. However, I also have a nice home and car. But, those are things I like. I don't buy fancy clothes, furniture, etc because that is not for me.

[bjl584]

Re: Keeping up with the jones

I try not to stereotype. Someone driving a nice car and living in a big home may very well be in debt up to their eyeballs. Then again, they may be multimillionaires that have worked hard all their life, invested and saved wisely, and were easily able to afford that big house and that nice car. What seems big and lavish to one person may seem quite practical to someone else. It's all a matter of perspective and of the size of one's banking account. A million dollar sports car isn't that much if you are worth 300 million. I would have to say that no, spending money is not bad. Spending money keeps the economy going. Spending money that you don't have and going into debt over something that will not give you a future return on your investment is a whole different thing. That is financial irresponsibility. Spending money is neither good or bad. It is just a transaction of goods and services. The motivations and the reasons for the transactions are what becomes good or bad. If you can simply write a check for your million dollar sports car and not give it a second thought, then good for you. However, if you have to cash out your 401K and spend your childrens' college funds to buy your million dollar sports car, then you have some serious issues going on that need to be looked at.

[JanH]

Re: Keeping up with the jones

[QUOTE=fairy74 (Just don't ever, ever ask me for a loan if you drive a Lexus!)[/QUOTE]


LOL. My dad was working on the roof of our little house once when a vacuum cleaner salesman drove up in a big gold cadillac. It might have been a company car, but needless to say, dad didn't buy anything! We didn't have the money to spend. It might be judging, but his car was worth more than most of what we owned!

[vsjhoc]

Re: Keeping up with the jones

I really don't care what the Jones do. I buy what I like and can afford.

I agree.

"Afford" is a very loaded term. Each of us has a different definition.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

Re: Keeping up with the jones

Right it doesn't matter cschin what you have. That's not the question or the point. The point is having what you do have, do you assume that others who live a nice life don't have debt too? Or do you assume they are in debt?

Lifestyle is = to earnings. Depending on what you like. How do you know that someone with splashy lifestyle can't afford it and shouldn't have it?

[tinapbeana]

Re: Keeping up with the jones

LOL. My dad was working on the roof of our little house once when a vacuum cleaner salesman drove up in a big gold cadillac. It might have been a company car, but needless to say, dad didn't buy anything! We didn't have the money to spend. It might be judging, but his car was worth more than most of what we owned!

ask anyone involved in client-site sales and they will tell you to drive the cleanest most well kept low to mid ranged sedan you can find. a 3 year old clean ford taurus, for example. nice enough to prove you are doing OK, but not so nice that it looks like you don't need the next sale...

psychology, strange beast!

[cschin4]

Re: Keeping up with the jones

I guess I don't really assume one way or the other. Obviously, there are people who can well afford alot of things and there are others who use their home as an ATM. Who can say?

[Gruntina]

Re: Keeping up with the jones

I try not to judge people if they have more expensive stuff as sometimes I will save up for something to splurge on while cut back on others.. For an example: a nice vacation trip and just not go out to eat or away on weekends to save money for the trip. Someone once commented me for being "well off" to be able to take a vacation.

However... I do ponder a lot and I mean a lot!!! the homes around my work and the homes at the bottom of the hill I live are huge mansions with the most manicured lawns, fancy cars that goes with them, and their house is loaded with nice furniture’s (can clearly see in windows since house are up closes and open at night) and the ladies have giant sizes rock on their fingers. Just one of these houses alone is 4 million dollars more or less) average home price in my area is one million.

I just wonder how alone they are qualified for a mortgage loan, car loans, and etc. It doesn’t seem possible so they must have money coming from somewhere.


On another note, I was walking to my car in the Wal-Mart parking lot, there was this oversized pick-up truck that had 6 (yes I mean Six) TV monitor screen inside the truck. Two of them were on the back of the backseat headrest. Who ever is inside the truck would not be able to see them at all… Only the other cars driving behind them can see them. They had them all playing at the same time inside.

To me that is an obvious sign of show-off and keeping up with the Joneses regardless how they purchased it

[Duchesse]

Re: Keeping up with the jones

I buy what I want and what I feel I can afford. What anyone else does with their money is their business. "One person to a mind" But I agree with the person who said, "Don't ask me for a loan if you own a Lexus."

I no longer lend, I saved my money so I don't need to borrow.

[MonkeyMama]

Re: Keeping up with the jones

Amen.

I don't really care what other people do.

To an extent.

I am really concerned about my future and how it will be affected by an entire generation that consumes more than it makes. (A government that does the same too). I am seriously worried if it matters how prepared I am for retirement if no one else is. Anyway, I have been really worried and trying to figure out what I Can do. BEst is try to educate people about personal finance and push for more financial literacy programs. That is what I am trying to do - put actions where my mouth is.

I know too too too many upper-middle-class here with no money in the bank, not a dime saved, debt out the wazoo. How do I know? BEcause I have a lot of people come to me for financial advice and confide to me, or come to me for tax advice where I glimpse a lot more into the personal situations than I ever would otherwise. I am continutally shocked and amazed. I don't assume anything. I used to assume all the people I know who were so bad off without a college degree really were. More and more I find these people make well over six figures (a lot of young-20-year-olds in sales - making good money). I have since found out in one crowd I was with that I made the lowest paycheck - yet I had the most in assets. These days when someone tells me they are bad off I pretty much take it with a grain of salt - LOL. These people have no clue. Moving from another area the entitlement the young feel around here is amazing to me. I Think it is an issue that needs to be addressed for our economy to continue to do well. Ask me the last time my boss interviewed a qualified candidate out of college? IT is laughable. The entitlement carries over to the work ethic as well, or maybe the lack of good education with a government so low on funds. I have no idea how this class of people expects to survive for the long-term. IT is scary out there. I am very concerned about the knowledge I know about many people's personal finance. For the people I don't know I Don't assume much. I Can only hope most people are more prepared to take care of themselved for the long term.

I actually know a number of extremely well of people with a lot of bling. A lot of them are clients and are doing just fine. A lot of neighbors. It could be possible they have amassed a lot of debt but most are business owners and seem to do well. I don't think much about it. IF they aren't whining to me and coming to me for advice I don't think much about it. But I know I rant a lot here about what I See - it is crazy out here. I have a couple of very wealthy clients who live up to their means and have lots of money issues. So it goes - I Can see how easily some of the wealthy can fall in the same traps. & I whine about what I see because these people just drive me crazy. LOL. I am tired of people looking at me like I have a third eye because I suggest (at their request for advice) getting a night job, driving a used car, moving somewhere cheaper, buying a condo or townhouse to get into the market and then move up. The assumption is usually I am rich from inheritance, I haven't a clue, I must make $200k/year, etc. I Am sick of the assumptions made about me for sure...

[PauletteGoddard]

Re: Keeping up with the jones

Do you assume that people who are shopping and buying stuff cannot afford it? Or assume that someone with 6 children is in debt? Do you see someone driving a fancy car and assume it's leased?

No, I assume everybody gets $50,000 - $125,000/year jobs immediately out of college, with lucrative stock options, or trust funds, and has university-educated mommy and daddy with their empty-nest disposable income as a safety cushion. At least, that is the case with my friends who have a larger net worth than I do.

Otherwise it would be hard for me to feel sorry for myself. I'm doing okay, debtfree except for a mortgage, but I don't have the above advantages.

[project15]

Re: Keeping up with the jones

No, I assume everybody gets $50,000 - $125,000/year jobs immediately out of college, with lucrative stock options, or trust funds, and has university-educated mommy and daddy with their empty-nest disposable income as a safety cushion. At least, that is the case with my friends who have a larger net worth than I do.

Otherwise it would be hard for me to feel sorry for myself. I'm doing okay, debtfree except for a mortgage, but I don't have the above advantages.

I'm fresh out of college and I do have the above advantages somewhat (good job, some investments my parents started for me, no trust fund though and I'd never think of my parents as a safety cushion), but still feel like I'll never be able to afford anything. My wife constantly asks us when can we afford a house and I really don't have a good answer to that. We go walking through neighborhoods full of huge houses and wonder what these people do to afford these kinds of houses.